Youth Disclosure About Friendships Across the Transition to Middle School

Abstract

This longitudinal qualitative investigation considered youth disclosure to parents about friends as well as parents’ responses to such disclosure across the transition to middle school. African American and European American youth participated in qualitative interviews regarding their disclosure to parents about friendships in three consecutive years spanning the transition to middle school. Coding was completed in a two-step process that started with identifying themes regarding disclosure about friends as they reflected the experiences of all youth. Second, global categorizations of disclosure patterns during each year were used to categorize participants into four groups: stable complete disclosers, stable partial disclosures, increasing disclosers, and decreasing disclosers. We then identified themes regarding disclosure about friends as they distinguished these disclosure groups. Findings indicated that adolescent disclosure to parents about friends is embedded within the nature of adolescents’ relationships with parents and the manner in which parents respond to adolescent disclosure episodes across time.